Policy and Procedures for Determining Support for Conferences 

THE SSA FUNDING APPLICATION TEMPLATE CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE.

Background 

The Society is a charitable organisation funded from the income generated by the journals Addiction and Addiction Biology and from investments. Its main aims are to enhance the study of addiction and support and expand the membership of the Society. The Society holds an annual meeting and conference in November of each year and this is the main focus of our meetings and conference activities. However the Society also co-hosts and supports selective additional meetings

Policy for Supporting Conferences

The Society specifically aims to co-sponsor high quality scientific conferences which 

• Bring together researchers and practitioners
• Support the discussion and implementation of evidence based policies
• Explore emerging theories or addiction related problems

The Society does not (normally) provide grants for conferences.

Criteria for Support 

1. The Society will only act as the co-sponsor for a conference.
2. One or more members of the Society’s Executive to be involved in the planning and execution of the meeting or conference.
3. The Society will not co-sponsor any meeting which has any alcohol or tobacco industry links.
4. Support can not be considered until a full proposal has been submitted including a full financial plan. The Society’s criteria for providing support will be based on the confidence in this proposal to result in a successful conference. We would normally expect the income from conferences to meet all expenses. If the conference does better than break even, the surplus should be used to reimburse the original outlay from the Society.
5. The Society and its journals will provide a display at any conference supported.
6. Conference organisers should commit themselves to provide a short report on the outcome of the conference.

Procedures 

1. Proposals for any open conferences can be made by members of the Executive or members of the Society who should initially contact the Meetings Secretary of the Society.
2. The proposal should contain:

1. A description of the conference and contents
2. Size and type of audience expected
3. Full financial plan and financial arrangements
4. Role and outputs for the SSA

and should be sent initially to the Meetings Secretary

1. The Meetings Secretary will, with the help of other Executive Officers, namely the President, Treasurer and Members’ Secretary assess the application against the criteria set out in the policy. Meetings of this group are held in March, June, September and December each year.
2. The role of this group is to:

1. ensure the applicant(s) has supplied sufficient detail as set out in the policy document
2. have the power to reject proposals that do not meet the criteria set out in the policy
3. forward proposals which meet the criteria with a recommendation for acceptance/rejection to the next Executive meeting.

Executive meetings are normally held in November, April and July of each year

1. Given the decision of the Executive the applicants should be informed of decisions within one week of the Executive meeting, and if not already decided nominate a member of the Executive act as a liaison with the conference organisers.
2. The liaison Executive Member would be expected with the conference organiser to provide a full report of the conference, including a summary for the web pages and financial record. This report to be presented to the Executive.

The Society for the Study of Addiction

Policy and Procedures for Determining Support for Projects

Background

The Society is a charitable organisation funded from the income generated by the journals Addiction and Addiction Biology and from investments. Its main aims are to enhance the study of addiction and support and expand the membership of the Society. The Society only supports projects, which the Executive considers necessary to further the work of the Society.

Policy for Supporting Projects

The Society aims to support projects in the following areas: 

• evidence based policy implementation
• multi-disciplinary reviews in neglected areas directly relevant to addiction policy
• stimulation and support for addiction researchers and practitioners to exchange ideas across countries and subject areas.

Projects can be proposed in a number of different formats. For example, the project may consist of a closed meeting designed to generate ideas, discussion and a publication or be a more formal piece of research using paid researchers.  

Priority will be given to projects from within the Society. The Society will, however, continue to support some joint initiatives with other international bodies or groups of international researchers.

Criteria

Support will only generally be given to projects and initiatives from the Members of the Society, including the Executive.

For projects requiring support of more than £10,000, co-sponsors should be sought. The Society will not support initiatives that also receive support linked to the alcohol or tobacco industry. 

Procedures 

1. Members of the Society are encouraged to discuss any research ideas with members of the Executive and will be asked to prepare a full proposal in partnership with other members of the Executive if appropriate.

2. A proposal of at least two sides of A4 should be submitted. The proposal must contain:

• The aims of the project
• The potential involvement of SSA Executive and other members
• Timetable of the project
• Full budget details
• Project outputs
• Dissemination plan for outputs
• Relationship of the project to the aims of the Society

3. Proposals should initially be sent to the President of the Society. The President should with the help of other Executive Officers, namely the Meetings’ Secretary, Treasurer and Members’ Secretary assess the application against the criteria set out in the policy. Meetings of this group are held in March, June, September and December each year.

4. The role of this group is to:

1. ensure the applicant(s) has supplied sufficient detail as set out in the policy document
2. have the power to reject proposals that do not meet the criteria set out in the policy
3. forward proposals which meet the criteria with a recommendation for acceptance/rejection to the next Executive meeting. These meetings are normally held in November, April and July each year.

5. Given the decision of the Executive the applicants should be informed of decisions within one week of the Executive meeting and if not already decided nominate an Executive member act as a liaison with the project team. For larger projects a steering group would be appointed containing some other members of the SSA Executive. A full financial plan and budget needs to be approved by the Treasurer with methods of financial management. The project officer is only authorised to agree expenditure within the approved agreed budget.

6. Requests for additional funding can only normally be approved at an Executive Meeting. Prior to the meeting a full budget and plan justifying the additional support should be circulated to the Executive Members.

7. The project officer should provide short written reports of the progress of the project for Executive Meetings.

8. Any publication arising from the project should acknowledge the source of the funding.

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